Interview: Amber Seyler | ‘A Dozen More Turns’
A Dozen More Turns is one of those rare films that gets under your skin.
I admit to being an expert when it comes to finding ways to avoid thinking about consequences (Andrew McLean calls this “creative rationalization”), but ADMT managed to grab me in a way no other avalanche film ever has.
As a piece of filmmaking, A Dozen More Turns could have gone wrong at any number of turns.
First-time director Amber Seyler deserves considerable credit for successfully navigating the treacherous landscape of a devastating avalanche on Montana’s Mount Nemesis, and the avalanche of commentary and recriminations that undoubtedly followed. Her film is jarringly-neutral in retelling the events of the Nemesis Avalanche, which to my eye contain an unmistakable aspect of mystery.
It is easy, at first, to dismiss Sam Kavanagh (the film’s central character) and his friends as a bunch of enthusiastic but foolish young men who court their own disaster. Yet as the film reveals more information about this group of backcountry skiers, we soon learn the full story is a great deal more complex.
As soon as I saw the film, I knew I wanted to talk to Amber about it. Luckily, she generously agreed to share her time and discuss the film. SierraDescents has perhaps been negligent in not more directly addressing the avalanche hazard we all face when we choose to enter the backcountry. Here is a first step in remedying that omission. I hope you find it illuminating.
» Amber Seyler | ‘A Dozen More Turns’
